On the Sidelines
by of self
Summary: A story about friendship, crushes, farm animal humor and a disastrous first date, all ending in a happily ever after. Sam/Emily.


A/N: There's a wave of Emily love going around the LwD section right now and I'm riding it too. I personally like Emily and wish she had more screen time. I like Sam too. And I do think they would look adorable together because both of them are the best friends of the main characters. And the sidekicks do usually end up getting together don't they? Anyhow please don't lob rocks or any pointy objects at me. It's my first try at a Sam/Emily.

Disclaimer: I don't own LwD or Sunkist or High School Musical or Bunsen Burners. I feel pathetic.

* * *

They've always been friends. Not the kind you spill your innermost secrets to though. They are the kind who wave at each other in the hallway and smile vaguely at each other. The truth of the matter is they never really got to know each other because they were busy being the sidekicks, the best friends, the go-to persons etc.

/

Emily is Casey's girl. The one she cries to, whines to, and talks too. But mostly Emily is a sounding board for everything Derek did or did not do. She knows so much about Derek – thanks or no thanks to Casey - that she'd write a book and make a cool couple of million off of it because she has no doubt that the whole of J.S. Thompson High would like know to know the inner workings of Derek Venturi's mind. And that includes the staff too.

She once nursed a crush on him, one of those crushes which make it impossible for you to breathe let alone live. But somewhere along the way she grew up and he joined the ranks of Dimi Davis. As the annoying brother/friend she loves and cannot live with or without.

But regardless of the crush and regardless of Casey's frequent klutziness and sometimes un-cool behavior, the most important role she plays is that of the best friend. Because no matter what Casey does or says, Casey is her best friend and she'll always love her for that.

/

Sam is Derek's guy. The best bud with a sound ear and head because if he weren't there, J.S. Thompson High would have burnt to the ground by now. Thanks goodness he dissuaded Derek's to drop his mega prank which involved Bunsen burners and a few explosive chemicals.

He also occasionally acts as unwilling partner in crime because when you are friends with Derek Venturi, the most notorious pranker to grace the not so hallowed portals of the school, you didn't think you'd go scot-free right? But his main role is that of Derek's best bud.

He's somewhere on the same level as Marti, well maybe a little lower than Marti cause no one is higher than Marti. Well he's the same level as Edwin or higher, he's not really sure.

However there was that one time when he was dating Casey, he did get the distinct feeling that he was lower than a dog turd. But after he broke it off with Casey, suddenly he was way higher than a dog turd. And that's when he sort of figured and realized that what he needed to do was to be the friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

And he knows that if he's the kind of guy who likes the spotlight that would be hard. But Sam's not that kind of guy.

And that's the reason he and Derek are such good friends. They balance each other out.

/

But one fine day these roles come to a standstill.

They are still the respective best friends but some thing doesn't feel right. Maybe it's because Casey is no longer whining about Derek and his obnoxiousness. Maybe it's because Sam doesn't get an earful about Derek's latest plan to dye Casey's favorite clothes vomit green. Maybe it's because the war between Casey and Derek has finally come to a standstill.

And _maybe_ it's because Casey notices that Derek has a grin that does melt her and _maybe_ it's because Derek notices that when Casey's in the room his eyes are automatically on her.

/

And now that Emily and Sam have much more free time on their hands, they notice other things too.

Emily notices that Sam has a really peculiar sense of humor. She's sitting with him at lunch and while Derek and Casey are having a staring contest that she would privately label as eye sex, Sam entertains her with jokes that have everything to do with chickens and nothing to do with humor and yet make her laugh.

And when he smiles, she notices the way his eyes crinkle at the corners and for a moment she feels her heart drop because_ God_ does she like guys with crinkly eyes.

The moment passes and she continues chewing away at her wilted lettuce and laughing some more when Sam mentions he's got a whole repertoire of cow jokes too.

And as she drinks her Sunkist she thinks that this propensity of Sam's- for poultry and farm animal related humor- is something she can get used to.

/

For the first time in all the years that he has known Emily, Sam realizes that her hair is a profusion of corkscrew curls. And that no matter how many time he yanks it – gently though- they are never straight. But somehow he likes it. Her personality matches her hair. She's bouncy and bubbly and no one else has been able to relate so well to this poultry and farm animal brand of humor.

And also, for the first time in his life he's tempted to burst into random song in the middle of the cafeteria. He doesn't know why though. Maybe being with Emily is the reason.

Only he's still trying to feel his way through the thick clouds of oblivion.

/

Derek and Casey end up being more than civil to each other but for once Sam and Emily are paying no notice. Because they are too caught up in their own story which is for once taking centre stage in their own lives.

Emily and Sam have now reached that fine line between vague friends and vague friends who happen to nurse ginormous crushes on each other.

For reasons best not explained Emily cannot find the courage to go up to Sam and say, "Your crinkly eyes make me weak in the knees." She is not sure but she's convinced that would be vaguely inappropriate.

Besides she's also not sure she wants to lose out on his peculiar brand of humor. She's just beginning to narrate jokes about sheep and goats with an inability to practice healthy eating.

/

For reasons that cannot be revealed Sam doesn't not have the guts to go to Emily and tell her that, " The sight of you and your smile makes me want to spontaneously sing and dance in the cafeteria, a la High School Musical" . He's pretty sure that will send her running to the hills or in this case the small lump of mud Ontario likes to call a hill.

Besides she's getting into this whole animal humor thing too. And she's doing a far better job of it than he ever did. Maybe he needs a few lessons on 'How to tell jokes and receive applause, not wilted lettuce in your hair".

Or may be he needs to be a pretty face with a charming smile and a repertoire of zingy one-liners.

Just like Emily Davis, owner of all of the above.

/

Casey and Derek have now progressed to kissing or as Sam likes to call it, vicious face eating and everyone are surprised except Sam and Emily. This seems like a logical conclusion to the war.

What was everyone else expecting, a truce? Did no one see the sparks of unresolved UST flying each time they glared at each other?

But seeing the mass shock that ripples through the school when people see Derek and Casey kiss, apparently not many people did.

But the ignorance of 99.98 percent of their school's population isn't important and nor are the tears of the entire female population of J.S. Thompson High who at some point or the other gave their hearts to Derek.

Right now there were more pressing concerns like the fact that since Truman has been dumped by Casey, he has set his sights on Emily. And Sam for one is very worried by this unsavory turn of events.

Seriously, where does this Truman character get off by trying to (but not yet) nab Emily? Why can't he go back to whichever place he comes from? And Sam answers his own question. Maybe the people of the place where Truman comes from don't want him back. And not that Sam blames them; he perfectly understands where they are coming from.

And these are the questions that plague Sam's mind while he toys with his meatloaf which somehow how feels and tastes like rubber.

/

He smells the unique scent of cologne and strawberries in the air and he realizes that Emily Davis is near by. His sense of smell is proved right in just about two seconds as a very annoyed and out of breath Emily sits down next to him, throwing her tray on the table in a noisy clatter.

A few minutes pass and the green jell–o on her tray is still wobbling when Emily ceases to breathe like a steam engine and begins breathing like a normal human.

"Truman is a jackass." She says, viciously stabbing her meatloaf. Sam bobs his head in acknowledgement. She sure isn't picky about her words like Casey is he notices. And he loves that about her.

"He asked me out, despite knowing that I was Casey's friend." She says narrowing her eyes to slits. Sam believes that if Emily were a dragon, she so would be snorting fire now and Truman would so be a pile of ashes. That is the stuff dreams are made of. He takes a moment to revel in this lovely mental image.

"What did you say to him?" He questions despite almost knowing the answer.

"I told him to go screw himself and a few other things." She says with a hint of pride, pausing delicately on the last part.

Sam's heart is welling up with joy. So he spontaneously puts his arms around her and hugs her tightly. After a prolonged hug because the smell of strawberries is doing wonderful things to his brain he lets go sheepishly, convinced that she thinks he's a freak. Damn his feeble and treacherous heart.

"What was that for?" Emily asks with a bemused smile.

"For saying all of that to Truman." Sam says with the vague idea of covering up his not yet evident crush.

"Gee, and I thought it was because you liked me." Emily says with a mock pout.

Sam's fumbling and confused.

"I like you." He says in a hurry, tripping over his words.

A deathly silence hangs over them for a moment. Sam know what he said aren't the ordinary kind of words. Emily knows that too. The Cafeteria continues buzzing but it's like Sam and Emily are alone together in a silent little bubble of their own.

"I like you too." Emily says not meeting Sam's eyes. Sam grins into his meatloaf. The awkward silence is broken and replaced with a companionable silence.

Sam slips his hand under the table and finds Emily's hand. He takes it in his and continues eating, the meatloaf tasting like the most wonderful thing in the world ever.

As Sam's fingers curl around Emily's, she smiles. She never imagined this happening but she's perfectly content with the way things are going.

/

They haven't started dating as yet. But there's an easy familiarity between them. Sam walks a little closer to her than usual and sits next her. His arm hovers around her shoulders and he can almost smell her shampoo.

It's heaven.

Emily for her part finds herself leaning into Sam's ever present self next to her. It's not intentional but something just feels so right about it. Besides she finds the smell of fabric softener on his shirts soothing. Or at least that's the reason she comes up when she's trying to convince herself she's not leaning into Sam simply because the feel of his wiry muscles send a thrill up her spine. Nope, that's not the reason at all.

Derek and Casey are still much too caught up in each other to notice anything other than the fact that Sam and Emily are mysteriously quiet and seem to be sharing _way_ too many smiles.

/

She's really come far with her comedienne skills. She's so good that even Derek's laughing at her jokes. And Derek is the kind who'd rather spend his time laughing at people for their stupidity. Sam stands back and watches her with a proud smile.

That's his protégé right there. And isn't just wonderful how she is also the perfect girl too?

And now Emily decides it's time to repay her gratitude to Sam and his sensei skills. He may like animal jokes but she discovers in him, a talent for something else. Sam makes the shift from animal related humor to impressions.

And his impression of a Derek and Casey moment has his audience in splits and the aforementioned people embarrassed and blushing. Well Casey's blushing and Derek's looking a little pained in the light of his sappiness.

But her favorite one has to be the one he does of Barney. It's a special request and is only done if the person asking is Emily Davis.

And knowing that gives her the fuzzies.

/

The first person she tells is her mother. Then she spends the next few minutes hopping around the house like a bunny on crack.

She would have told Casey but Casey is attached to Derek's lips right now and trying to separate them part is like trying to prise open a clam.

Her mother looks on in amusement while her father's only consolation is that she's dating Sam and not Derek. Knowing that Sam has four sisters makes Emily's dad feel like Sam's not gonna try anything funny. Firstly, his four sisters would kick his butt from here to space for doing anything disrespectful and secondly, Sam Richards always struck him as a decent kind of guy.

But he's not going to let him know that. He's got a stereotype to maintain and a boy to terrorize.

/

Their first date is a disaster. Anything than can go wrong, goes wrong and Murphy's Law proves itself to be sickeningly right.

He brings her a bouquet of flowers half of which has been mangled by a dog that also chased Sam down Emily's street. Emily's dad doesn't look terribly impressed at the sight of him gasping for breath at the door step, a ragged bunch of flowers in his hand and a sheepish smile on his face. However before he can even say anything threatening, Emily is out of the door and disappears into the darkness with Sam.

At the restaurant, she's sweating buckets and her hair is hanging limp. On the other hand Sam's hair is standing on its end and he's generating static like there's no tomorrow.

The final straw is the waiter emptying a bowl of chocolate sundae into Sam's lap.

They leave the restaurant and take a long, deep look at each other. Any hint of perfection is long gone. His hair is on the end and hers looks like it's lost the will to live. He has a chocolate mural on his shirt and slightly ripped pants and she has patches of sweat on her dress. They don't make a pretty picture and they definitely don't look like the ideal couple. They stare at each other a little longer.

And then they burst out laughing because both of them can see the humor in this situation, though Emily was sure if she was with another guy she would have been in tears and Sam is sure that he would have been with an other girl he would have hightailed it out of the restaurant.

They go to Smelly Nellie's and then spend the rest of the evening there talking, laughing and generally having fun.

When Emily goes back home after having received her first kiss from Sam on her doorstep, under the fragrant jasmine vines; she chalks it up as the best date ever.

/

Next day Sam unknowingly lets the whole of J.S. Thompson High know that he and Emily are a couple. In his defense all he can say that is he thought sneaking a kiss near the abandoned music room wouldn't let the whole world know. But apparently it does.

By lunch time Emily is getting a lot of glares and so is Sam. Clearly they were considered prized catches. However they didn't know this and its Kendra the school's matchmaker and Derek's slightly bitter ex-girlfriend who lets them know. She beams at them with an almost maternal pride, considering them her best achievement ever. But both of them don't disabuse her of the notion even if they do have a hard time on choking back on their disbelief.

/

They are sitting at lunch and they lean in to share a kiss when a loud gasp makes them violently jump apart and move to the farthest ends of the table. No prizes for guessing, it's the one and only Casey McDonald.

Her hand is clapped over her mouth and her eyes are wide open. Both of them shrink a little at the thought of the incoming onslaught of the shrillness. And here it comes.

"Oh my god, you guys are dating? When did this happen?" she screeches, throwing her backpack onto the bench and sitting down opposite to them. And as much as he wouldn't like to admit it, Derek is equally interested too. So much so that he even forgets to notice that he's eating Casey's health food.

"A few days ago." Emily says cautiously fearing a backlash from Casey on what good friends do and don't do.

"But why didn't you tell me?" Casey shrieks, feeling upset that her best friend has been holding out on her.

Emily doesn't know how to tell her in plain words that reason she couldn't tell Casey was because Casey never has any free time anymore. She either spending her time with Derek, or doing something charitable. Truth be told their friendship has dwindled to nothing more than hi's and bye's. And if it weren't for Sam, Emily knows she'd be feeling a lot more resentment than usual.

However Sam steps in to let Casey know the reason.

"Whenever she wanted to tell you, you were either sucking face with Derek or doing something else. Mostly sucking face though." Sam adds the last part just to see Derek squirm. And Derek does squirm painfully.

"I'm so sorry Em, I really am, I guess I just got so caught up in everything, that I forgot the most important thing of all, being with my best friend." Casey says in a contrite manner. She then glares at Derek who throws up his hands in defeat. Even when he doesn't do anything he still gets blamed. Life is _so_ not fair sometimes.

Emily sighs with happiness in the wake of this apology. Sam is the best thing that happened to her but she does need a girl friend, to whom she can talk to about Sam's crinkly eyes or his gentle sheepish smile that sends her heart rate speeding.

"Apology accepted Case." And with that the two friends hug and chatter excitedly, while two disgruntled boyfriends wonder where is the love.

/

She's sitting on her porch and he's sitting next to her. His arm is casually thrown over her shoulder and she is leaning into him. On the whole everything is peaceful and the silence is occasionally punctuated with the sounds of whirring insect wings.

"What do you think of the sidelines?" She asks, her low voice cutting across the silence.

"I like being on the sidelines." He answers carefully, sensing the doubt and slight fear in her voice.

"Would you ever want to be in the spotlight?" She asks without any intonation in her voice. But Sam can see the need for reassurance in her eyes.

"No. I'm happy being right here with you. The spotlight doesn't hold much interest for me." He says truthfully. He's always been a sidelines kind of guy. And he finds his life there very fulfilling.

"What about you? Do you like the sidelines?" It's his turn for reassurance now. Because he knows that Emily is the kind of girl who should be under a spotlight.

"No. I never really liked the spotlight. I like the sidelines _much_ better." She says putting emphasis on the word much and Sam grins happily, knowing his doubts are baseless.

"Well Miss Davis, I guess that makes us the perfect couple, doesn't it?" Sam asks in a mock serious voice.

"Why yes, Mr. Richards, I believe it does." Emily says in the same voice before dissolving into giggles. Sam joins in the laughter and Mr. Davis from inside wonders if some hanky-panky is happening on his porch. He is all for going out there and breaking up the happy union but is forcibly restrained by the charms of Mrs. Davis and cute little Dimi Davis who has chosen this very moment to tell his daddy that he loves him very _very_ much.

Sam cups her face and gently kisses her. As Emily kisses him back, once and again she thanks her stars for being a sidelines kind of girl. And Sam thanks his stars for being a sidelines kind of guy.

And together they know they are going to happy in their sidelines kind of a world.

* * *

Yes, I know. Fluffier than a marshmallow. That is how I roll.


End file.
